What Nancy Mace alleges and what S.C. attorney general says
COLUMBIA, S.C. - South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson is responding to shocking allegations Congresswoman Nancy Mace made Monday night on the House of Representatives floor – including claims against Wilson and his office.
Mace claimed an attorney had proof of girls and women being abused in the Lowcountry – and that his office ignored them.
Wilson says he and his office didn’t know of Mace’s claims until the text of Mace’s speech was published – shortly before she delivered it on the U.S. House floor Monday night.
Since that time, SLED has confirmed it is investigating accusations of assault, voyeurism and harassment involving Mace’s former fiancé Patrick Bryant – one of four men she accused.
He’s denied the claims.
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SLED says it opened that investigation in December of 2023 – and that it’s still active and ongoing – and will be sent to a prosecutor for review once it’s complete.
Wilson, South Carolina’s top prosecutor, says Mace’s depiction of his office’s involvement is a “categorically false” characterization.
Mace alleged an attorney for a victim brought Wilson personally evidence of a crime – and that the attorney general told them not to give it to him.
Wilson denies he said that.
Wilson said:
“What I would probably say, and what I have said hundreds of times over the last 14 years is, if someone has evidence of a crime, you don’t want to give it to us. You want to give it to law enforcement because they’re the ones that are building the case file. They’re the ones conducting the investigation and building a report so that a charging decision can be made by the law enforcement agency, and a prosecutive decision can be made by a prosecution agency. A case like this normally would not come to me. It would go to the local solicitor or the prosecutor in that jurisdiction. Now, they can come to me, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it would come to the Attorney General’s Office.”
Both Mace and Wilson are regarded as likely candidates in the 2026 governor’s race along with Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette.
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A SLED spokeswoman said the investigation is active and ongoing and has “involved multiple lawyers.”
She said when the investigation is complete, it will be sent to a prosecutor for review.
Bryant released this statement shortly after the speech:
“I categorically deny these allegations. I take this matter seriously and will cooperate fully with any necessary legal processes to clear my name.”
Bryant is a CEO and partner of a software development firm that has offices in Charleston and Washington, D.C., according to his biography. He is a past chairman of the Charleston Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce.
During her speech, Mace accused Bryant and three other men of what she called “some of the most heinous crimes against women imaginable” but claimed they have not faced charges even after prosecutors received evidence.
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The First District Congresswoman alleged four men from Sullivan’s Island, the Isle of Palms, Mount Pleasant and Rock Hill, conspired to commit rape and to take nonconsensual exploitative photos and videos of women and underage girls.
She further claimed that when she confronted Bryant about evidence she found of the alleged crimes, he assaulted her.
She also said while visiting a property owned by one of the men in 2022, she was served two small vodka soda and inexplicably blacked out. She said she found multiple videos of women who were naked or were being abused and said one of the videos showed her.
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Rep. Leon Howard is thankful to still be alive after what he experienced last summer, starting when he woke up in the middle of the night.
However, none of the municipalities where the men live were able to confirm that any such crime had been reported.
There is no record of charges against any of the four men.
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